- Musical Tribute at Funeral Mass: Ronan Keating Honors Brother Ciaran
- Emotional Performance of “This Is Your Song” by Ex-Boyzone Star
- Family, Friends, and Community Gather to Mourn and Pay Respects
The ex-Boyzone member’s song included the lyrics “You were our friend, walk with you until the end, and one day we’ll all sing along because this is your song.”
In Ireland, Ronan Keating performed a musical tribute to his brother Ciaran Keating at his funeral mass.
After their mother Marie’s 1998 funeral, the former Boyzone star sang This Is Your Song.
We’ll sing your hymn one day because you were our friend.
Keating stated, “I shouldn’t be singing it under these circumstances, but we are and will.”
He was one of the pallbearers that carried his older sibling’s casket to St. Patrick’s Church in Louisburgh, County Mayo.
The performer informed mourners that Ciaran Keating’s children had made their father “very proud.”
On Saturday, Mr. Keating, who was in his fifties, perished in a car accident near Swinford, County Mayo, in which his wife Annemarie was injured.
The relatives of Ciaran Keating walked behind the hearse as it drove through Louisburgh following the funeral.
They exchanged hugs and handshakes with mourning, including ex-Boyzone member Keith Duffy and ex-Ireland rugby player Shane Byrne.
Among the mourning were members of Cork City FC, for which Ciaran Keating’s son Ruairi plays, and representatives of the Marie Keating Foundation cancer charity.
Marie Keating was diagnosed with breast cancer in September 1996 and died at the age of 51 in February 1998, less than 18 months later.
In her memory, her family set up the foundation.
